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Planning your barndance

The Band's going to fill the place with music, you're going to fill it with dancers, and everyone's going to have a right good time, so here are some tips you may find useful. Apologies if you’re an old hand - there just might be something new here. If you’re a first-timer, you might want to send a copy of these notes around your committee so everyone’s pointing in the same direction. In any case, you'll probably have to sell the idea to others, and you'll have an easier job organising it if you and everyone else knows what to expect.

How does a ceilidh work

It’s an evening of active fun and socialising, usually to English country dances. There’s someone - a Caller, like an MC - who gets you to walk through each dance before you dance it. For example: “Bring your partner onto the floor and form a big circle, everyone holding hands. Now, four steps into the middle....” You don’t need any special skills - even two left feet will do.

There’ll commonly be two easy dances and then a quick sit-down for a rest, then two more and so on in different formations - circle, squares, lines, etc. Most dances you’ll do with whoever you’ve invited onto the floor (or who has invited you, of course), the odd dance being a mixer where you dance with several people in turn.